I am no means trying to stir up a fight. Just curious if it bothers anyone even a little with all the awards and trophys Malkin has gotten sine his return to Russia? I am happy for him and know the competition is much different than the NHL, but it does bother me a little how well he played once he left the Pens, since he was not that good during the playoffs. I guess I am still not over the playoffs......

Does Malkin improving his game prevent us from giving up 480 goals in the series? If it wasn't Philadelphia, it would just be the next team that eliminated us...you can't go into a playoffs with such a laissez-faire attitude about anything and everything and expect to win.

It bothers me because if Sid had won the mvp at the 2012 WC; Pittsburgh would hold a parade. Who blamed Sid in 2010 for winning a gold medal, but not being able to beat halak in the play-offs ?Congrats to Gene!

mikey287 wrote:Does Malkin improving his game prevent us from giving up 480 goals in the series? If it wasn't Philadelphia,i think it would just be the next team that eliminated us...you can't go into a playoffs with such a laissez-faire attitude about anything and everything and expect to win.

...i fixed it for you. too many people state as fact that the reason for the pens defeat WAS coaching, MAF, defense...

i still believe that the flyers were in our heads and we lost the mental game before the series even started. due to that, i honestly think pittsburgh would have beaten anyone else (or, at the very least, looked much, much better).

to speak that you know how something would have unfolded is purely speculation.

mikey287 wrote:Does Malkin improving his game prevent us from giving up 480 goals in the series? If it wasn't Philadelphia,i think it would just be the next team that eliminated us...you can't go into a playoffs with such a laissez-faire attitude about anything and everything and expect to win.

...i fixed it for you. too many people state as fact that the reason for the pens defeat WAS coaching, MAF, defense...

i still believe that the flyers were in our heads and we lost the mental game before the series even started. due to that, i honestly think pittsburgh would have beaten anyone else (or, at the very least, looked much, much better).

to speak that you know how something would have unfolded is purely speculation.

The only thing that made that series close was that Bryzgalov was also bad on a historic level. Even a team like Ottawa would have smacked us around something fierce. We were in our own heads, we didn't play hockey, we had no chance and it pains me to say that...it's embarrassing really. You can't play hockey like that, with that mentality, with just an utter disregard for the finite details of the game and expect to beat anyone. It's a coach's game today, not a player's game...if you have such rancid disorganization, the players themselves are not enough to overcome that. We need to re-focus our efforts, from the top down...re-focus what our goal is on every shift. Are we a cycling offense? Are we a puck side attack defense? Or are we interested in being the Washington Capitals - impressed by regular season success, run n' gun crap and then willow away in every single playoffs for the remainder of our pathetic existence?

Whatever the game plan is, let's get everyone in on it and playing it and get players that fit it. If someone doesn't fit, bye. Coach can't get the players to buy into it, can't get them motivated to play, bye. Whatever it takes. You never know what can happen, the odds are we'll never get this lucky again: we have the two best players in the world on our team entering their primes, a #1 puck-moving d-man that is likely considered a top-10 or 15 d-man in the league, a third-line center that is capable of logging 20 minutes per night and do everything for us, a goaltender that is among the top most athletically gifted goaltenders I've ever seen who generally has a knack for being amazing for us when the chips are down (I know, I know, he's back to being a "bust" again and has been a bust his whole career except for game 5 in the 2008 Finals and June 12, 2009...I got it...)...

There's no time to waste. It's obvious, it's easy to say, but we got to get it together...I'm not panicked or upset, but we have gotten exeedingly lucky in our history...Lemieux turns out to be God. Jagr turns out to be the best player in the game for half a decade. Then we win another lottery and get the next God. We lose a lottery and get a player that is trending towards the HHOF and has already won a Conn Smythe Trophy. When these guys are gone, I seriously, seriously doubt we'll draft the best player in the game 5 years later...better take advantage of it now, whatever that takes...

That rant just kind of snowballed on me there, sorry...I just hope that everyone in the organization from the owners and Shero right down to the janitors at Consol understand that they have a unique opportunity to work their asses off AND have a chance to etch their names in a trophy forever...most teams just have an opportunity to work their asses off...

mikey287 wrote:Does Malkin improving his game prevent us from giving up 480 goals in the series? If it wasn't Philadelphia,i think it would just be the next team that eliminated us...you can't go into a playoffs with such a laissez-faire attitude about anything and everything and expect to win.

...i fixed it for you. too many people state as fact that the reason for the pens defeat WAS coaching, MAF, defense...

i still believe that the flyers were in our heads and we lost the mental game before the series even started. due to that, i honestly think pittsburgh would have beaten anyone else (or, at the very least, looked much, much better).

to speak that you know how something would have unfolded is purely speculation.

The only thing that made that series close was that Bryzgalov was also bad on a historic level. Even a team like Ottawa would have smacked us around something fierce. We were in our own heads, we didn't play hockey, we had no chance and it pains me to say that...it's embarrassing really. You can't play hockey like that, with that mentality, with just an utter disregard for the finite details of the game and expect to beat anyone. It's a coach's game today, not a player's game...if you have such rancid disorganization, the players themselves are not enough to overcome that. We need to re-focus our efforts, from the top down...re-focus what our goal is on every shift. Are we a cycling offense? Are we a puck side attack defense? Or are we interested in being the Washington Capitals - impressed by regular season success, run n' gun crap and then willow away in every single playoffs for the remainder of our pathetic existence?

Whatever the game plan is, let's get everyone in on it and playing it and get players that fit it. If someone doesn't fit, bye. Coach can't get the players to buy into it, can't get them motivated to play, bye. Whatever it takes. You never know what can happen, the odds are we'll never get this lucky again: we have the two best players in the world on our team entering their primes, a #1 puck-moving d-man that is likely considered a top-10 or 15 d-man in the league, a third-line center that is capable of logging 20 minutes per night and do everything for us, a goaltender that is among the top most athletically gifted goaltenders I've ever seen who generally has a knack for being amazing for us when the chips are down (I know, I know, he's back to being a "bust" again and has been a bust his whole career except for game 5 in the 2008 Finals and June 12, 2009...I got it...)...

There's no time to waste. It's obvious, it's easy to say, but we got to get it together...I'm not panicked or upset, but we have gotten exeedingly lucky in our history...Lemieux turns out to be God. Jagr turns out to be the best player in the game for half a decade. Then we win another lottery and get the next God. We lose a lottery and get a player that is trending towards the HHOF and has already won a Conn Smythe Trophy. When these guys are gone, I seriously, seriously doubt we'll draft the best player in the game 5 years later...better take advantage of it now, whatever that takes...

That rant just kind of snowballed on me there, sorry...I just hope that everyone in the organization from the owners and Shero right down to the janitors at Consol understand that they have a unique opportunity to work their asses off AND have a chance to etch their names in a trophy forever...most teams just have an opportunity to work their asses off...

i sum up my position by saying you can't blame bylsma for "the system" when the players clearly were not following what the coach said. again (and i have said this numerous times in different threads) lovejoy is the only one to blame for the pass that picked off in game 2 and duper should take all the blame for not dumping the puck in (and instead turning it over) when short handed with seconds to go in the period. there were countless other mistakes - so many on the horrid penalty kill - that i find it hard to blame HCDB for the tactile execution on the ice of the players. now i will say he takes all of the responsibility for the players not having their heads on straight...that clearly is his responsibility.

i just think many fans on this site are still out looking for a lynching and are ready to hang the usual suspects (MAF, Bylsma's system, Martin) regardless on whether they were the reason for the collapse or not.

The ceremony was also attending by a few Pittsburgh fans, who have been following the Penguins since 1989 presented Malkin with a picture that was taken in the locker room after the Russians won the World Championships. On the back of it they wrote a message to Malkin Also wishing him to be playing only in the Pittsburgh uniform in April and May every year in the NHL playoffs. As for the national team, they said it's time for the younger players to be called up "and Alex Ovechkin." Even Russian Pens fans don't want Ovechkin in the playoffs. Malkin said winning his first World Championship title was very special and that he still wants to play for the national team no matter when.

mikey287 wrote:Does Malkin improving his game prevent us from giving up 480 goals in the series? If it wasn't Philadelphia,i think it would just be the next team that eliminated us...you can't go into a playoffs with such a laissez-faire attitude about anything and everything and expect to win.

...i fixed it for you. too many people state as fact that the reason for the pens defeat WAS coaching, MAF, defense...

i still believe that the flyers were in our heads and we lost the mental game before the series even started. due to that, i honestly think pittsburgh would have beaten anyone else (or, at the very least, looked much, much better).

to speak that you know how something would have unfolded is purely speculation.

I respectively disagree. We got abused beyond the point of these theories people come up with that deflect away for the real reasons. Our line up top to bottom can't play gritty hockey and we play way too perimeter on offense, our defensive players are not good enough, our goalie played awful and our coach had better days.

I keep reading about the flyers were in our head, we can beat anyone else, the flyers got us to take penalties. I honestly cant believe that people think the flyers gotmusmtomtske stupid penalties. We took penalties because we were getting our butts kicked.

We couldn't cycle, couldn't stop the cycle and our pk sucked. We have good top end perimeter talent with top end grit too. The rest of the line up needs adjusted. End of story. Prediction or not I could care less, we got best a lot with teams attacking us the last month of the season.

penny lane wrote:It bothers me because if Sid had won the mvp at the 2012 WC; Pittsburgh would hold a parade. Who blamed Sid in 2010 for winning a gold medal, but not being able to beat halak in the play-offs ?Congrats to Gene!

Meh, I dont think alot of Penguin fans even know the World Championships exist. I'm happy for Geno. I'm always happy when one of our guys does well on the international level. Even if it is a watered down tourney.

MarioLives wrote:I am no means trying to stir up a fight. Just curious if it bothers anyone even a little with all the awards and trophys Malkin has gotten sine his return to Russia? I am happy for him and know the competition is much different than the NHL, but it does bother me a little how well he played once he left the Pens, since he was not that good during the playoffs. I guess I am still not over the playoffs......